the initiative is as much about public health as public transport.
“Air quality has been breaching acceptable levels for 10 years and people in the city are being exposed to air that has clear effects on their health, especially those who are most vulnerable, such as children and older people,” said Inés Sabanés, councillor for the environment and mobility.
“There’s research that shows clear links between pollution peaks and hospital admissions. It has a very clear effect on health – on the number of deaths and premature births.”
A lot of poor people are poor precisely because they are in poor health. It tends to simultaneously run up bills and curtail earning capacity. A city full of healthy citizens is going to be more economically vibrant at all levels.
Yeah, I've heard that (kind of) objection before. It's nonsense. That's not the only way that sick people have additional bills.
If you are healthy and living on a limited budget, you cook from scratch. If you are sick, you get take out or you eat a more expensive TV dinner that further hurts your health. If you are healthy, you shop the sales, you travel a little farther to the cheaper store, etc. If you are sick, you go to the closest store because it's the only one you have the energy to make it to.
Etc. ad nauseum.
Even without medical bills, sick people will spend more for convenience items just to get through the damn day. There are myriad ways in which it is vastly cheaper to simply be healthy.
I'm not saying you are wrong, but the scale is very different from the stories you hear from the US.
I'm a Spaniard, from a working class family. My grandma, uncle and father died from (different) cancers in the last 3 years, yet my family didn't go broke nor anything close to that. Money was simply not an issue: all medical expenses were paid for by the state, and all of them kept receiving their (state-funded) retirement pensions until they passed away.
All the things you mentioned were cared for by my mother, myself and my siblings. Not having to care (extra) about money during such tough times is a blessing, and the reason I am more than happy to pay more taxes than citizens in other countries do. Of course the system can (and should) be improved, but the US state of affairs on everything health-related sounds just crazy to me.
The only poor people in Spain who are poor because of health issues are the mentally ill (including life-destroying addictions). The remainder of poor people are poor mostly because they're lacking education / accessible jobs.
Money was simply not an issue: all medical expenses were paid for by the state, and all of them kept receiving their (state-funded) retirement pensions until they passed away.
All the things you mentioned were cared for by my mother, myself and my siblings
I've known people in countries with state funded healthcare, like Canada, with serious health problems in the family, especially among minor children. I've heard how much of a hardship that can be even if medical bills are not part of the picture.
I'm glad your family was fortunate in that regard. But your assumption that I am projecting the American experience onto foreigners is in error.
It's certainly better to not also have the medical bills. But being unable to work full time while having greater than average need remains a hardship, even in countries where the state covers all medical bills.
It's just vastly better to be healthy, even if medical care is completely free.
the initiative is as much about public health as public transport.
“Air quality has been breaching acceptable levels for 10 years and people in the city are being exposed to air that has clear effects on their health, especially those who are most vulnerable, such as children and older people,” said Inés Sabanés, councillor for the environment and mobility.
“There’s research that shows clear links between pollution peaks and hospital admissions. It has a very clear effect on health – on the number of deaths and premature births.”
A lot of poor people are poor precisely because they are in poor health. It tends to simultaneously run up bills and curtail earning capacity. A city full of healthy citizens is going to be more economically vibrant at all levels.